The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced five grants totaling $2.7 million for research that will explore the role housing plays in the long-term health and well-being of children, families, and communities.

Awarded as part of a $25 million How Housing Matters to Families and Communities initiative, the grants will enable recipients to mine existing data sets and resources — including those from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and public school districts — to reveal insights into the effectiveness of housing policies and related public programs. The initiative aims to determine how investments in housing might help realize a greater return from other social and public investments.

The grantees are the University of Michigan, which received $886,000 to study whether service and support interventions provided in a retirement community improve outcomes for moderate and low-income seniors; the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research, which was awarded $698,000 to study the impact of service-enriched publically assisted housing on health, quality of life, and costs for older adults; Syracuse University, which received $500,000 to determine how housing affordability affects decisions that older adults make about their health care, living arrangements, and well-being; Ohio State University, which was awarded $427,000 to analyze the use of a reverse mortgage and its impact on older adults' financial security, well-being, and ability to preserve independent living; and New York University, which received $202,000 to study whether and how housing subsidies improve educational outcomes for children of low-income families.

"In these tough economic times with a challenging housing market, these forward-thinking researchers will contribute to a body of work that will provide solid evidence on the smartest, most cost-effective ways to connect housing, health, community development, and education policy to address the needs of families and communities," said Ianna Kachoris, the foundation's program officer for housing.